It is very easy to understand who is a real politician and who is pretending.
On February 27, 2015, on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow, 100 meters from the Kremlin, opposition politician Boris Efimovich Nemtsov was killed.
The names of those who ordered the murder are unknown to this day. They were pushed into a background of many other killers that we have learned about over the past three years. There is largely only one reason for this: Whoever did the investigation were the killers. There are no other reasons for failing to find the murderers, and real politicians talk about this openly.
And those who pretend to be politicians simply do not remember or look away.
On February 27, 2015, on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow, 100 meters from the Kremlin, opposition politician Boris Efimovich Nemtsov was killed.
Today's Troubles Are The Result Of The Indifference Of Those Who Claimed Leadership
They are constantly being amazed: "Oh, Russia is conducting a so-called special operation!?[1] You don't say! Oh, Russia is silent to the news of severed heads in its own pretrial detention centers? How could it be?" – Simple! One murder opens the way to everything else – and [there will be] no surprises.
If a person is ready to murder for his own petty nasty goals, he will commit any other crime. And how laughable, how shameful it was to hear, every time: "No way that the authorities will commit murder" – Yes, they will! Of course, they will!
They decided that they are allowed to do anything.
And they have been doing it all this time,[2] and there is no crime that they have not already committed – but still one of the first remains the murder of Boris Nemtsov.
It's similar to Raskolnikov.[3] He did not kill the old woman to get rich. He needed something completely different: to understand whether he has limits, or whether he can do whatever he pleases.
In Dostoevsky's novel, Raskolnikov understood everything: One cannot do that. Wherein the collective Raskolnikovs in Russia came to the conclusion that yes, one can! And everything they have done since then is explained by this. The murder opened the way to permissiveness. No one punished the murderers, neither conscience nor the court. So, one can continue. And thanks to them, we learned a lot about ourselves.
We agreed that Russia would be ruled by murderers, and after that we should not be surprised by anything: neither war, nor lies. Some people simply accepted that anyone could be murdered without consequences. And "anyone" means any of us, any of the Ukrainians… just anyone.
Previously, we shook our fists at the sky, lamented… but each year it was evident that the fists are getting weaker, while the sky is pressing harder. And now all that remains are the Berlin opposition marches that political emigrants organize – useless, with limp fists.
"We are the power here!" shout the Russian oppositionists from Europe. "No!" say the people, "You could have become the power in Russia when Boris Nemtsov called for unity. But you just became emigrants." The Russian opposition lost and now we are all paying the price.
Today's troubles are the result of the indifference of those who claimed leadership, but in the end got scared of their own shadow. Troubles are the result of the willingness to come to terms with criminals in power, with the fact that murderers rule.
What Would Our Russia Be Like With Nemtsov As President?
Why, could Nemtsov have saved Russia? I will not use pompous words, over the years they start to resemble varnish on an icon, the paint behind it is almost invisible. There is one simple truth: Boris was not part of the elite.
The current emigrant democracy is a fight for the rights of specific democrats. Ask such a fighter – what do you really need? And they will answer you honestly: some need money, some an office, while some a place on TV. That is why they do not want war to end; it is easier to fish in troubled waters.
And Boris, he had both broad public recognition and real deeds "on the ground." After all, he was the former vice-premier, the first governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast of Russia and almost the successor of the first president of Russia Boris Yeltsin. He gave up all the political privileges given to him. He gave them up easily, because he did not want to be a friend to cannibals,[4] a friend to those who either order murders or know about them and remain silent, to those who unanimously vote for all the vile [bills] in the State Duma [the Russian parliament]. And this is not holiness at all – this is a sense of self-respect. This is what dignity means, when you do what you yourself think is right, and not what you are ordered to do, not what is beneficial right now, in the moment. So, how can one negotiate with such a person? Pray tell! How can one bribe [such a man]? Conscience is not for sale.[5] Let me add that not every politician knows how to talk to people, to just go out and talk, without preparing in advance.
Honestly, I cannot recall Boris Nemtsov insulting an ordinary person or simply being rude or pushing away anyone with arrogance. That never happened. It is not my task in this text to present Boris as a saint, but he behaved in a way that others do not. He remained a normal person among the Raskolnikovs. That is why people with great trepidation created a public memorial on the bridge where the politician was shot, calling it "Nemtsov Bridge." That is why they have been honoring his memory for the last ten years.
Sometimes I wonder with regret: What would our Russia be like with Nemtsov as president? Russia is now melting like sugar in tea. While Boris, who easily parted with power, was the country's chance for the first voluntary change of the supreme ruler in its [modern] history. A change according to the rules, not according to 'ponyatiyam [criminal code of conduct].'[6]
Russia could have actually become Europe. After all Europe is not the euro, as many people think, and not Schengen visas; it is the political culture, with which everything begins. Europe begins with the fact that politicians take the people into account rather than just constantly use them. Russia had this chance and lost it. The quiet small man from the Russian FSB,[7] Vladimir Putin, turned out to be more important, more profitable. Everything was decided for the people, not by them. Tell me, was that murder not also revenge for this? For the fact that the successful presidential candidate could not forgive the people's love for the failed one.[8] It is like a reflection in a crooked mirror that cannot forgive the original for its ugliness.
Okay, all these are words, but here are the numbers: Boris Efimovich Nemtsov collected 1,000,000 signatures against the war in Chechnya, 1,000,000!
What politician can do this now? We were steamed to the bone in a blood-bath.[9] Some openly welcomed the war, some rode into Europe on it, some kept quiet, while some were imprisoned. But no one could or wanted to organize anti-war resistance.
Why did Nemtsov manage to do this at the time? – Simply because he believed in what he was doing. He did everything absolutely sincerely. And today's politicians are still trying to guess how their actions may affect their careers and bank accounts. The account may be big, but the people are small. They cannot win, and they are not even trying. But Boris Nemtsov wanted, knew, and could.
Because Everything Begins With Consent To The Crime
It is all strange.
I remember now how he was going down to the Moscow metro to hand out leaflets. No, he did not then organize a pre-election meeting with himself, he simply did everything without anyone's tutelage. On the one hand, this is a very natural thing to do, but on the other hand, who else does that? Who talks directly to people, works, and expects nothing in return, not a tour for American money, nor a place in a European cabinet through connections?
Do you think Russian politicians are capable of appearing in public without security if they previously worked as a high-ranking official? They are all aware of a "people's love" for them and they are afraid of the people, after all they have reasons to be afraid. Boris was not afraid of anything, because he had nothing of which to be ashamed. All decisions were his own, not imposed. No one could buy him.
A film was made about Nemtsov after his death, "The Man Who Was Too Free." A good title! It is very true. Freedom is not loved now, it is feared. Three years ago, 400 deputies of the Russian State Duma voted for war, that is, recognized the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) and Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). There was not a single free person [in the parliament]. That is how our government has degenerated.
And who will tell how those shots on the bridge affected us? How many people realized that if they killed Boris, the former governor, the successor of the first president of the Russian Federation, then they would definitely trample ordinary people, us, without even noticing. How many people have traded their freedom for comfort and lack of conscience? Once again, it's simple: Boris was not afraid.
He knew what could be done and it was simply shameful to complain in front of him. And when he died, it turned out that opposition politicians essentially had no one else to look up to. He died and everyone finally realized the scale of his character. The blow was dealt correctly: The ugly reflection reached the original. Now people are forbidden to even remember Boris Nemtsov.
The people's memorial on the bridge where the politician was killed is constantly being destroyed. Instead of a procession in memory, one cannot even lay flowers now, and if one strives to do it, it can be done only under police escort.
They even deny us memories.
So, who murdered Nemtsov? What are the suspects? Will this someone ever be punished for the crime? No matter how it was orchestrated – a written order, an oral order, or just a silent nod – this murder is terrible. Many of us in Russia, following the precepts of murdered politicians, still try not to remain silent, not to nod, and to overcome fear. Because everything begins with consent to the crime.
My deep respect and eternal memory to Boris Nemtsov and to all the people of the world killed for their own beliefs, whom even death could not break. These people will remain in our hearts forever.
*Elvira Vikhareva is a renowned Russian opposition politician based in Russia. In 2023, she was poisoned with heavy metal salts.
[1] The Special Military Operation is an official term for the war in Ukraine.
[2] i.e., committing extrajudicial killings
[3] The main character of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment"
[4] The politician possibly references and paraphrases the title of Soviet film "A Friend to Foes, a Foe to Friends"
[5] A common Russian expression meaning either commitment to ideals (more often), or the impossibility of returning a lost conscience for money.
[6] "Po ponyatiyam" and "ponyatiya" are a common expression from Russian criminal jargon, meaning "according to unwritten rules of conduct," or (according to) "unlawful agreements," "criminal traditions."
[7] The FSB – Federal Security Service of Russia.
[8] The author possibly hints at personal rivalry between Vladimir Putin and Boris Nemtsov.
[9] The author refers to repressions against Russian opposition.
